Starter for internal combustion engines



March 23, 1943.v

B. D. MAULE ET AL STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Nov. 28, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3mm June DMau/c dflc/ Bc/ford DMau/e March 1943. B. D. MAULE ET Al.

STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Nov. 28, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3mm Ju/m D Mdu/C v Bd/brd DMdu/f @M Patented Mar. 23, 1943 STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Belford D. Maule and June D. Maule, Michigan Center, Mich., assignors to The Aviation Corporation, Williamsport,

Delaware Pa., a corporation of Application November 28, 1940, Serial No. 367,564 13 Claims. (01. 185-40) The present invention relates to improvements in mechanical starters for internal combustion engines.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a starter for internal combustion engines of the type in which the engine is cranked by the release of a relatively large amount of accumulated energy by being momentarily coupled thereto, with brake mechanism provided to dampen the action of the starter at a predetermined point in its cycle of operation.

Another object is to provide a starter of the type in which the energy for cranking the engine is gradually accumulated and then suddenly released, in which novel mechanism is provided for releasing the energy to crank the engine.

A further object is to provide a starter of the type in which the energy for cranking the engine is gradually accumulated and then suddenly released, in which novel mechanism is provided for accumulating the energy, releasing the same, and then re-engaging the operating parts.

These and other objects and advantages residing in the combination, construction andarrangement of parts will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrated form of the invention and. from the annexed claims.

. In the drawings: g g V Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the starter housing with the starter showninstalled upon an engine mounting,

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line fir-11 of Fig. 1, I V

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fi 1, I v a I 4 is a cross-sectional-view taken online IV-IV of Fig. 1, 1

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the clutch mechanism shown rotated through ninety degrees from that shown in Fig. 1, a I

Fig, 6 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the showing the installation of the'starter;

. In. the accompanying drawings, wherein for :the

purpose of illustration,;is shownia preferred em-.

bodiment of my invention, the numeral I ll designates a starter housing the end ll of which is closed by the detachable plate [2. The opposite The drive shaft [1 is journaled for rotation within the housing 10 and in axial alignment with the starter shaft 16 of the engine. The shaft preferably comprises an idler section l8 and a drive section i9 operatively connected by a planetary gearing 20. For the adaption of the above connection the inner end of the idler section I8 is formed with a transverse substantially triangular plate having laterally extending shanks 2| which rotatably support the idler pinions 22. The idler pinions mesh with a. stationary internal ring gear 23 and with the drive pinion 24 fixedly carried by the drive section 19, the inner end of the drive section being suitably supported by a transversely positioned bearing plate 25. The outer end of the drive section is journaled in the end plate 12 of the housing and the outer end of the idler section I8 extends through the end l3 of the housing in axial alignment with the starter shaft IS. A clutch plate 26 is fixedly mounted on the starter shaft and a companion clutch plate 21 is splined for sliding movement on the extending end of the idler sectionlB. The sliding clutch plate 21 is 'arranged in confronting relation with the stationary plate 26 but is normally held disengaged therefrom by the spring pressed detent '28.

The drum 29 is mounted on the drive portion I9 of the drive shaft and includes a radial flange 30 formed with an elongated sleeve 3| which snugly receives the drive shaft. The inner end 32'ofthesleeve abuts the annular shoulder 33 formed on the shaft and the outer end 34 thereof is abuttingly engaged by the nut 35 threaded on the drive shaft; The annular shim 36 and the external ring gear-31 is "riveted, orrotherwise secured, to one side'of the'disk 30'ftodefine the" peripheral groove-38. The sleeve 3| is formed with an inwardly extending key 39 which is of the airplane'Bli and has the distal end 4| end [3 of the housing is formed with a radial flange M which is adapted to be connected toa suitable supporting wall l5 in a manner to support the housing in confronting relation,to., the.

starter shaft l6 of aninternal combustion engine." 5s

thereof fixedlysecured' toa suitable support 42 in the tail 8! of the airplane 85. The cable 43' is threaded over the idler pulleys 44 rotatably mounted in the fuselage and has. thev end 45 through the opening 41 in' the housing for terminal connection in the peripheral groove 38of" the drum. l

The portion of the starter housing below the drive shaft I1 is enlarged, as at 48, to accommodate the drum actuating means. The actuating means includes a spindle 49 which extends through the portion 48 of the housing in spaced parallel relation with the drive shaft. The pinion 50 is splined' to the spindle for movement into and out of engagement with the external ring gear 31. The coil spring 5! bears against the pinion to normally urge the same into meshed engagement with the ring gear, and the spring. influenced pivoted dog 52 engages the pinion in the last-mentioned position to hold the same against rotation in a clockwise. direction. The end 53 of the spindle extends" from the housing and is connected to the elongated link 54 by the universal joint 55. The coil spring 56 is interposed between the universal joint 55 and the housing and cooperates with the coil spring 5! to hold the pinion 50 in meshed engagement with the ring gear 31 The sleeve 51 is fixedly secured to the ratcheted end 53 of the link and. extends therebeyond to receive the ratcheted end 59 of the crankhandle 60-.

The link 54 extends from the starter to a suitable actuating position. If the starter is associated with an airplane as shown, the link is preferably extended into the cockpit 88 so that the pilot may operate the starter. The crankhandle fill is detachably associated with the link and may normally be kept in any convenient location when not in use. Insertion of the handle within the sleeve will permit the link tobe manually rotated-in a clockwise direction. The above rotation will, in turn, be imparted to the pinion 50 which operates on the external ring gear 31" to rotate the same in a counterclockwise direction and to wind the cable 43 therearound; When substantially all of the cable has been wound aroundthe drum, the shock cord 49 will be highly tensioned; however, the dog 52 will engage the. pinion to hold the same against reverse rotation.v Rotation of the drum to wind, the cord therearound will be transmitted to the drive shaft. H but, by; virtue of the normally spaced" relation of the clutch plates and 21, such rotation will not. be imparted to the driven shaft The collar 6'] is threadedly received by the end 34! of the drum sleeve and" has the circular plate 62' riveted, or otherwise secured, thereto. The plate 62 isof substantially the same diameter as the drum 2!! and the peri'phery thereof is recessed" toreceive the elongated key 63. The key'is fixed to the housing whereby rotation of the drum' will efie'ct. a longitudinal movement of the plate 62 toward or away from the drum. The face of the plate 62 confronting the drum .is provided witha brake lining 64' which friotionally engages'the disk 30. of the drum when thecord 43 is entirelyunwound from the vdrum. Rotation of the drum in the above-described manner to wind the cord therearound will move the collar 6| axially away from the drum to the fulliline position in Fig; 1. Release of the pinion 5-3 from the ring-gear 37' will permit the tensioned shock'cord Ml to'unwindthe cord from the drum. Rotation of the drum in a clockwise direction will move the collar in the direction of the drum and when the cable is unwound to a desired extent, the brake:

The operator may disengage the pinion ififrom the ring gear by pressing against the finger-piece 55 to axially move the spindle 49 within the housing. Axial movement of the spindle will move the pinion to the dotted line position in Figure 1 against the resilient action of the coil springs 5i and. 56. The enclSE of the spindle is slidably received by thev sleeve 61- and the spring arm 68 has the end 69 thereof fastened to the depending arm 10 of the sleeve. The intermediate portion of the spring arm is secured to the end 66 of the spindle by the bolt H and the upper end 12 thereof is disposed within the guide track 13-. Axial movement of the spindle will, therefore, flex the spring arm to move the end 12. into. engagement with the laterally extending shank 14 of the. yoke 15. The yoke abuts the rearward face of the slidable clutch plate 21 and movement of the spring arm 68 into engagement with the shank 14 thereof will move the clutch plate 21 into engagement with the stationary clutch plate 26.

It may thus be seen that the operator firstactuates the crankhandle 60 to wind the cable" 43 around the drum 29. The winding of the cable around the drum will cause the brake collar' 6| to move to a retracted position; Axial movement of the spindle 49" will disengage the pinion 50 from the external ring gear3l and move theslidable clutch plate" 21 into engagement with the stationary clutch plate 25. The' release ofthe ring gear 31 will permit the tensioned shock'cord torapidly rotate the drum in a reverse direction, which rotation will then be-imparted to-the driven'sha-it l5 ofthe engine: Reverse actuation of the'drum by the shock cordwill'aiso cause the brake lining 64 to frictionall'y engagethe drum as soon as "the cord 43- is entirely unwound therefrom.

Movement of the pini'on' 56 fromthe full line to the dotted line-position sh'ow-n in Fig. 1' releasing the ring gear-31 results in' the dog 52 being urged into the-dotted line-positionshown in Fig. 2 with the nose of th'edog 52* encountering-the spindle 49 as a stop: Withthe dog- 52 in this position, it functions" to hold the pinion 5t! out of. engagement with the ring gear 3-1 as more clealy' shown in Fig. 63 As in practice it is desirable that the starter bein condition for/immediate use, the pilot after starting the engine w-ill rotate the crankhandlefifl in' a clockwise dimotion which result" in the pinion 5ll= being similarly rotated. As is more clearly show-n in- Fig. 6', the side 52 of the-dog 52 1s slightly slanted so as to be engaged at its lower endbythe endsof the teethof thepinion 50 at'the time thesame is rotated clockwise. This action of the pinion 50'- results in the: dog 52 being rotated counterclockwise upon its pivot from the dotted line post-'- tion shown in Fig. 2 to an -elevated position in with'the ringgear 3 and resumes its-functionsof locking the pinion 59- against counter-clockwisemovement'. It' is within the contemplation of the present invention to house the" elongated longitudinally-.

extensibleshock" cord or its" equivalent" inparts of the airplane structure other than that disclosed in Fig. 7. For example, the shock cord may be conveniently housed within the wing structure or any other portion of the airplane in which the same will not interfere with the streamlining, will be protected from the weather, and there is adequate clearance for substantial axial elongated and contraction of the energy element.

It is to be understood that the form of ourinvention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention, or scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim is:

1. A starter for an engine having a driven shaft, comprising a drive shaft, clutch. means connecting the drive and driven shaft, a drum carried by and rotatable with the drive-shaft, said drum having an axially extending-screwthreaded sleeve portion, an axially movable plate threadedly engaging the shank portion of the drum, drive means releasably connected to the drum to impart rotation thereto and to move the plate axially away from thedrum an elastic cord having parts adapted to be wound around the drum to tension the cord upon actuation of the drive means, and means cooperative with the drive means to engage the said clutch means upon disengagement of the drive means from the drum, the said plate moving axially toward the drum upon reverse rotation of the same in a manner to frictionally engage therewith when the cord is entirely unwound from the drum.

2. A starter for an engine having a driven shaft, comprising an idler shaft, a clutch means connecting the idler shaft and the driven shaft, a drive shaft, a planetary gear means connecting the drive and idler shafts, a drum carried by and rotatable with the drive-shaft, an elastic cord having parts adapted to be wound around the drum to tension the cord, a drive means releasably connected to the drum to impart rotation thereto and to wind the said cord therearound, and means cooperative with the drive means to engage the clutch means upon disengagement of the drive means from the drum.

3. A starter for an engine having a driven shaft, comprising an idler shaft, a clutch means connecting the idler shaft and the driven shaft, a drive shaft, a planetary gear means connecting the drive and idler shafts, a drum carried by and rotatable with the drive shaft, an elastic cord having parts adapted to be wound around the drum to tension the cord, a drive means releasably connected to the drum to impart rotation thereto and to wind the said cord therearound, means cooperative with the drive means to engage the said clutch means upon disengagement of the drive means from the drum, and a brake means automatically engageable with the drum after a reverse rotation of the same sufficient to unwind the cable therefrom.

4. An engine starting apparatus comprising a driving member adapted to engage a member of an engine to be started, and operating means therefor, said means comprising a rotatable shaft, energy storing means, means upon said shaft for rotation therewith as a unit, for storing up energy in said first means upon rotation in one direction, releasable means dogging said shaft against rotation in an energy releasingdirection, and brake means for said shaft for .controlling the rotation of said shaft in an energy releasing direction following release of said dogging means.

5.. An engine starting apparatus comprising a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating structure therefor, said structure comprising a drum geared to said driving member, a resilient means including a flexible cable adapted to be wound upon said drum when said drum is rotated in one direction, means to rotate said drum in said direction storing up energy in said resilient means, means for releasing said drum for rotation in anopposite direction to unwind said cable under the action of said resilient means, and brake means for said operating structure to control the rotation of said drumin said opposite direction. 7

6. An engine starting apparatus comprising a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating structure therefor, said structure comprising a drum geared to said driving member, a resilient means including a flexible cable adapted to be wound upon said drum when said drum is rotated in one direction, means to rotate said drum in said direction storing up energy in said resilient means, means for releasing said drum for rotation in an opposite direction to unwind said cable under the action of said resilient means, and automatically operating brake means movable into braking relation with said drum upon a predetermined number of revolutions of said drumin said opposite direction.

'7. An engine starting apparatus comprising a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating structure therefor, said structure including means capable of storing up energy for the rotation of said driving member, and operatively connected to said energy means, means for actuating said rotating means to store up energy in said energy means, and means for suddenly releasing said stored up energy to rotate said driving member to start the engine, and braking mechanism for controlling the extent of dissipation of the stored up energy.

8. A starter for an engine having a driven shaft, comprising a drive shaft, clutch means connecting the drive and driven shaft, a drum carried by and rotatable with the drive shaft, said drum having an axially extending screwthreaded sleeve portion, an axially movable plate threadedly engaging the shank portion of the drum, drive means releasably connected to the drum to impart rotation thereto and to move the plate axially away from the drum, an elastic cord having parts adapted to be wound around the drum to tension the cord upon actuation of the drive means, and means cooperative with the drive means to engage the said clutch means upon disengagement of the drive means from the drum, the said plate moving axially toward the drum upon reverse rotation of the same in a manner to frictionally engage therewith when the cord is entirely unwound from the drum.

' 9. A starter for an engine having a driven shaft, comprising an idler shaft, a clutch means connecting the idler shaft and the driven shaft, a drive shaft, a planetary gear means connecting the drive and idler shafts, a drum carried by and rotatable with the drive shaft, an elastic cord having parts adapted to be wound around the drum to tension the cord, a drive means releasably connected to the drum to impart rotation therefor, said means comprising arotatable shaft, energy storing means, means" upon said shaft for rotation therewith as a unit, for stor'-- ing up energy in said first means upon rotation in one direction, brake means for said shaft for controlling the rotation of said shaft in an ener gy releasing direction, and means for bringing said brake means into operation only after predetermined rotation of said shaft.

' II. An engine starting apparatus comprising a driving member adapted to engage a member of the-engine to be started, and operating structure therefor, said structure comprising a drum geared to said driving member, a resilient means including a flexible cable adapted to be wound upon said drum when said drum is rotated in" one direction, means torotate said drum in said direction storing up energy in said resilient means, means for releasing said drum for rotation in an opposite direction to unwind said cable 5 under the action of said resilient means, and" brake means for said operating structure to control the rotation-of said drum in said opposite direction.

I2. An" enginestarting apisaratus eo'fnprlsing a driving member adapted to engage a member of the engine to be started, and operating sti uc tare therefor, said striicti-rr'ecornpriing' a drum geared to said era-mg member, a resilient means inei'ud'in'g aflexible cable adapted to be wound upon said drum when saiddrum is rotated one direction; means to rotate said drumin-sjaid direction storing up energy in said resilient means; means for releasing" said drum for rotation inan opposite direction to unwind said cable under the action of said resilient means, and automatically operating brake means movable intobraking relation with said drum upon a predetermined number of revolutions of said drum in said opposite direction. 13. An engine starting apparatus comprising 'a drivi'ng member adapted to engage a member of the engine to-bestarted, and operating structure therefon-sai'd structure including rne'ans'cm pable of storing up energy for the rotation of said driving member, and \operatively' connected to said energymeans, means for actuating said rotating means tostore up energy in said energy means, means for suddenly releasing said-stored up energy to rotate-said driving member to start the engine, braking mechanism for controlling the extent of dissipatien of the stored up energy, and means for bringing said brake mechanism into operation after predetermined rotation of said driving member. I i BELFORD D. MAULE.

JUNE D. MAULEL- 

